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Christoffer O. Hernæs is executive VP of strategy, innovation and analysis at Sparebank 1 Group, Norway’s second-largest financial institution. His thoughts were recently published in TechCrunch and are second to none I have read when it comes to explaining what financial institutions should fear most about the digital age.

Here’s the breaking news he offers about that fear: IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH TECH COMPANIES WANTING TO BE BANKS. Mr. Hernæs explains, “The cost and complexity of running a bank is not compatible with the fundamental business model of tech companies, and meeting the capital requirements, compliance and overhead associated with running a bank is perhaps best left to the banks.”